Lebanon has given Palestinian mediating groups until the middle
of the week to negotiate an end to a deadly standoff between the
Lebanese troops and an Islamist militia holed up in a northern
refugee camp, local Ya Libnan news website reported on
Sunday evening.
The Lebanese army demand that fighters of Fatah al-Islam
surrender and be handed over for prosecution for attacking Lebanese
troops last week, according to the news website.
The main Palestinian factions in Lebanon including the Fatah
party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the Islamic Resistance
Movement (Hamas) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (DFLP) are commissioned for the negotiations, said the
website.
The Lebanese army has besieged Fatah al-Islam, an
al-Qaida-linked group made up of fighters from across the region
since Saturday.
Walid Jumblatt, a senior leader of the pro-government majority
voiced the army's position when he demanded the handing over of the
Fatah al-Islam Islamist militants, who have been battling the army
at the Nahr al-Bared camp for a week in Lebanon's worst internal
violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
"Nobody has talked about a military solution, but we want the
criminals to give themselves up."
For the last two days, situation around the camp remained quiet
during the day, as a truce started from Tuesday night continues to
hold, but sporadic fightings were reported for the two consecutive
nights of Saturday and Sunday, according to local media.
Some residents fled the camp said they had dodged sniper fire
from Fatah al-Islam, which is targeting fleeing civilians to keep
the camp's population as human shields, according to the Ya
Libnan website.
Under a 38-year-old agreement, the Lebanese army does not enter
the 12 Palestinian refugee camps in the country.
Fighting between the Lebanese military and Fatah al-Islam,
reportedly linked to al-Qaida, which started last Sunday, had left
scores dead, destroyed houses and sent over 20,000 of the camp 's
31,000 residents fleeing their homes.
(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2007)
